Sufism and Urdu Poetry: Some Debates

Abstract

The heyday of Sufi poetry in Iran was from Hakim Sanai (fifth century AH) to Abdur Rahman Jami (ninth century AH). Due to their contributions, the themes of Sufism gained special importance in Persian poetry. Persian poets of India also made the theme of Sufism a part of their poetry. Although Persian was the language of Iran (Persia), it was only after the conquest of Delhi that kings, scholars, Sufis, and poets adopted this language and promoted it greatly. As much as Persian poets of Indian origin had respected the foreign language Persian, they also had the right to expect that Persian scholars and poets of Iranian origin would welcome their scholarly and poetic tolerance. However, Iranian scholars and poets had been slandering and criticizing Indian scholars and poets from the very beginning, i.e., from the era of the sultans, and even Amir Khisrau could not escape their attacks. There are many examples of this in history, for example, Ubaid Zakani's insulting remarks against Amir Khusrau, Iraqi's insulting remarks about Faizi, Sheikh Ali Hazin's harsh words, etc. I would also like to mention here that some famous Iranian poets, such as Hafiz Shirazi and Jamaluddin Urfi, have praised Amir Khusrau's eloquence, and Hafiz Shirazi has even remembered him with the title of "Tutty Hind". However, the general attitude of Iranian scholars and poets towards Indian-origin Persian scholars and poets was the same as I have mentioned above. This suggests that Iranian poets did not consider Indian-origin Persian poets to be trustworthy. In my opinion, there were two main reasons for this. First, the national and ethnic hatred of the Iranians, which is clearly visible throughout Islamic history. Second, the competitive spirit that is generally found among scholars and poets. To prevent this long series of rivalries and to untie the psychological knot, the elder of Delhi, Saadullah Gulshan, was the first to take the initiative and advised the Deccan saint to abandon Persian and recite poems in Rekhta (Urdu). After that, Sirajuddin Ali Khan-e-Arzoo acted on this and gave impetus to the writing of poetry in Rekhta. When Sheikh Ali Hazin came to India from Iran in 1734-35, after his arrival, he wrote an autobiography, "Tazkirat-ul-Ahwaal", in which he openly expressed his hostility and hatred. In it, he not only criticized the Indian Persian poets but also wrote insulting satires. In "Mahakamat-ul-Shu'ara", Mohsin has written that "Despite the fact that no Indian showed Hazin's heart, in "Tazkirat-ul-Ahwaal" he spewed venom against everyone from the king to the beggar without a wife and spread this idea. That India commands the land of excellence. He also declared that he had not seen a single person in the entire capital who possessed the status of excellence.